My prisoners fall silent as the door to the room slides open. Eraina's eyes go wide as I shamble into the room. Look, I'll be the first to admit that my Avatar isn't in the best of shape, but at least its clothes are intact! I grin at them while they hang there, but I think that just horrifies them.

Probably because the fake skin around the lower left side of my face covering my nose, mouth, and jaw on that side is gone. Revealing the metal and mana cables that hide under the human facade. My Avatar feels stiff as it clunkily walks into the room, my eyes and core shining a dull orange color as I study them. I'm just now noticing that my fake skin is deathly pale compared to theirs, but that's the way it always was. At least, I think so.

"How long?" I ask in a low voice. Damn. It's going to take some time to get used to projecting my voice through this body. Part of me really wishes I could turn the volume up. Luckily, the room is silent enough for my words to ring loudly in their ears.

I shift my gaze as I notice Lorithian and Dain pass out. I decide not to pay them any attention as I focus my eyes on Eraina. She seems to be the most knowledgeable one among them. I'm sure I can get some answers from her. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she's terrified. I find myself frowning. I'm really not trying to scare her. Maybe I should take it a bit slower?

"Are you a dungeon?"

I nod.

"So you woke up because we entered? You know that's impossible, right? Dungeons are supposed to stay asleep once they enter an eversleep."

"Think of me as an anomaly."

I mentally pat myself on the back for managing to keep my voice steady. It's not my fault that Eraina passed out a few moments later, though. It seems like the experience of talking to me was too much for her. Though, I don't understand why.

[Warning! Avatar Mana Reserves now at 3%!]

I guess I'm running out of time. Still, I'm lucky my Avatar managed to charge even that much in the short I've been active. I get the feeling I can recharge it with my core's mana, but I don't have enough left to waste on that. No. It'll be better to return it to its charging pod in the secret room once I'm done.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Nana says while watching me stare at Eraina's unconscious body. "What are you going to do with us?"

I mentally sigh at this question. Because it's THE question, right now.

"It depends," I say as I turn my head to look at her.

"On what?"

"Answers... To my questions."

Nana frowns at that, but I can't exactly say I'll probably kill you once you tell me what I need to know, right? That'd be a bit cruel. And I'm not a fan of killing for the sake of killing.

"My name is Adam. How long have I been asleep?"

Nana looks shocked. Well, more shocked than she was before. The three that passed out woke up just before I announced my name. Confirming their guesses from seeing the plaque on the altar. Nana turns her eyes to look at the other members of her group. I can hear them muttering to each other while she watches them. They fall silent when they notice she's watching them. She turns back to me with a frown.

"When did you fall asleep?"

"Hmm, it shouldn't have been more than a few weeks before the cataclysm was due to strike."

"Eraina? Any idea what he's talking about?"

Eraina's eyes focus on me in a flash.

"The cataclysm? No. The only thing that comes to mind is what some faiths call the beginning of our world. Manafall. But that's a myth. I mean, it may be real, but no one believes it anymore. It happened during the Mythos era if the writings in the ancient civilization's ruins are to be believed, and since then, dungeons appeared all over the place. Often mistaken for Gods until the end of the first era. Some scholars still claim it was caused by the dungeons, but that's just ridiculous."

Hmm, interesting. I don't know anything about this Manafall, but I think it's safe to say that it's not the cause of my existence. For all I know the Cataclysm in my fragmented memories may be what they call Manafall today.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"How long have dungeons existed?" I ask, deciding to try a different approach.

"According to the most popular theories, dungeons appeared after the great war during the late Mythos era, as a result of mana seeping out of the ground. However, there are some who claim that they always existed and only recently awakened. But that's only been a theory because no one has actually ever witnessed how a dungeon core forms."

Another reference I don't know. This great war seems to have come after Manafall. Which may be the Cataclysm that I slept through. Ugh, I'm getting a headache just trying to follow all of this.

[Warning! Avatar Mana Reserves now at 2%!]

I frown at the mental notification as I wonder how to deal with this. Right. I should probably try to get a grasp on how much time has effectively passed by asking about their history!

"What era is it now?"

"It's the 29th day of Junis, the 327th year of the Second Era." Eraina rattles off in response.

"How many years did the First era last?"

"Five hundred and twenty-two years."

I frown at her answer. That's a lot longer than I anticipated. Now, the question that really needs to be answered.

"What year in the Mythos era did Manafall happen?"

Eraina gives me a blank look as she wracks her brain. "It's hard to say. Nobody is sure how long the Mythos era really lasted. There isn't much history that survived that period. That's why we call it the Mythos Era. Most of what we know has been passed on through word of mouth, or uncovered in ruins like this one. But the best guess is maybe seven hundred years before the end of the Mythos Era. Though, it could be longer."

That means I've been asleep for 1,549 years at a minimum. Of course, things would be very different with that amount of time! It's hard to keep my shock from showing as I feel myself sway on my feet. I blink slowly as I take a breath. My Avatar's mana reserves are now at 1%, and my body is losing all sensation. I need to recharge now.

Nana watches me with wide eyes as I shamble out of the room. Her eyes go even wider as Arachea closes the door behind me. Luckily the charging pod isn't far away. I make my Avatar sit in it and have Arachea close the hidden door. It's probably best to keep my core with my Avatar for now. That'll make it harder for any other unexpected visitors to find it. There are still so many questions I want to ask them.

Still, it's a weird sensation using my Avatar. It's like having two bodies at once. Or would it be three? My core, Avatar, and these ruins integrating to become part of me as my mana permeates them. I'm going to think of my core as my mind or soul for now. The other two can be bodies.

It's strange being able to focus on one thing with my Avatar's eyes but be aware of everything happening around me because of my other body. Yet I still feel as if I should be capable of more than what I am right now. Well, I guess I'll just have to wait for my memories to come back to get answers to these questions.

I frown as I wonder how long I can last in this state. It doesn't seem like I'm regaining the mana I've already spent. I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing. There must be a way to regain it.

[Requesting Access to the Dungeon Interface System... Access Granted.]

Hm? I feel a sense of vertigo as something flashes in front of me. I move my attention to the prisoners in their room, but the glowing blue screen in front of me doesn't disappear. Huh, what is this?

The screen is divided into three sections. The left section is filled with icons, while the other two are blank. I feel like I should be able to use some of the icons, but I don't remember what any of them are supposed to do. So I just end up staring at them.

After a few minutes of staring, I think I've grasped a vague memory of using this interface before. For example, I'm sure this one icon is called Vault. So I can guess that means it's for storing things. I try to select the icon with my willpower, but nothing seems to happen. A small sigh sounds in my mental space as I glare at the other icons. Hmm, I think that one is called Nodes.

I focus on it for several minutes as I try to recall what it means. In the end, I still have no idea what it means. Well, I can only try. It probably would have been quicker to do that in the first place instead of trying to figure it out from broken memories.

As I mentally click on it, the screen flashes before displaying something new.

Dungeon Interface:

- Create Managenerator Node

Hmm, well, that seems promising. As I select the only option here, my vision changes to display a green cube that insists I choose a spot to place it. Well, that's kind of annoying. Part of me wishes it'd just do it automatically. I sigh as I choose a spot in an empty room within my boundaries.

Once I confirm its placement, the metal floor of my room in the space I chose turns into a liquid! It washes over the solid parts while revealing the rocky earth beneath it before solidifying again, leaving the earth exposed. My confusion only grows as a small, shiny surface pokes its way up out of the exposed rock. As the moments pass, several more appear and grow into large bluish gemstones.

[Managenerator Node has been created!]

Oh! I suddenly feel a trickle of mana being absorbed by my core. As I follow it back to its source, it does indeed lead to the gems! I grin in my headspace as I wonder how many more I can grow. Then again, there are still a number of icons for me to try.

Arachea mentally nudges me to let me know my prisoners have fallen asleep. I nod at this before telling it to let them down, I can't have any accidents happening in the middle of their sleep. Like my automatons failing to remember their orders to let them down for breaks and I'm too preoccupied to notice. Well, at least it gives me plenty of time to play around with my icons and discover what else I can do.

Oh, and Arachea? Don't forget to keep an eye on them.

I sense Arachae mentally acknowledging my orders before relaying them to the others. Ah, that's right! Yo, Arachea? Send some automatons to set some traps near the entrance. Like trip wires using their webs that'll entangle the legs of any invaders. You never know if more people might come looking for this lot. Thanks!

Now, I've got an itch to settle. I won't be happy until I fully explore this interface! I scan the icons until I spot another one that seems familiar. Guess I'll be clicking on that first, then! Click!

I watch as the screen shimmers, and I grin when I realize what I'm looking at.